Burglary suspect no stranger to police

February 9, 2014

EAST PALESTINE - A man arrested at a West Clark Street apartment complex in early December following a police investigation into several break-ins was arrested on the same street this week after breaking into an apartment.

Police Chief Kevin Dickey said Friday Arthur "Jamie" Gingher, 43, of East Palestine is charged with felony burglary after police responded to a call of a burglary in progress at apartment no. 2 at 92 W. Clark St. on Monday.

Officer Jordan Reynolds apprehended Gingher as he was exiting through the door of the apartment inhabited by Brennan Baker sometime before noon, according to a press release issued by the department.

Baker was not home at the time, Dickey said.

Gingher was allegedly carrying a household item believed to have been stolen from inside the apartment when he was caught by police. He was hand-cuffed and left with officer Carl Barnett and Ken Faust while Reynolds conducted a search of the rest of the building, the release stated.

Dickey said in the release that Reynolds found drug paraphernalia "in plain site" inside apartment no. 3, which had no one inside at the time.

Police searched the rest of the apartment shortly after Sgt. Don Johnson obtained a search warrant through the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, the release stated.

Once inside officers found a small amount of drugs and other related paraphernalia, which was seized.

When contacted, Dickey said the drugs included a small amount of what is believed to be marijuana and the paraphernalia was a syringe and smoking devices, with drug residue.

He also said charges for the drugs and paraphernalia are pending while the department investigates who is responsible for them.

Gingher was arrested at the scene for an active warrant through the Columbiana County Municipal Court and later taken to the county jail. He was also later charged with burglary for unlawfully entering Baker's apartment.

A preliminary hearing on the charge is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 13 in municipal court.

Gingher is familiar to the police department and Dickey recalled he was arrested on two active warrants through the county on Dec. 2.

At that time police searched a West Clark Street duplex and found stolen items and drug paraphernalia. Officers entered after first obtaining search warrants following an intensive investigation that began after several people reported thefts and/or breaking and entering over a period of weeks.

Items recovered in that raid included a TV, electronic gaming devices and clothes. Hypodermic syringes and other drug paraphernalia were also seized.

Municipal Court records available online show Gingher has 33 cases dating back to 1995. Of those, 24 are criminal, with the remaining civil and traffic-related offenses.

Dickey said the recent arrest was the result of quick response time and good police work.

"I am very proud of and commend the officers involved in this case. It is due to a combination of their fast response time, teamwork, decisive police actions and good solid police work that made this arrest possible," he said in the release.